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Home Continent
The home continent, or main landmass where all the races live, is called Panjeer. There are innumerable kingdoms, tribes, guilds, and other organizations on the island. However, every race has a captial city and kingdom that basically acts as the face of the race, much to the chagrin of the lesser powers. The Tribune of the Crowns The tribune is a loose governmental body consisting of the most powerful leaders from the six most influential races of Panjeer. Races represented by the tribune are known as the "crown races", and they try to hammer out an uneasy peace. The tribune is often ineffective and generally only serves as a feather in the hat of the most powerful kingdoms in the world. Queen Beatrice Vludrecht-Rulathar leads the tribune and holds the most sway in electing new members or disavowing current ones. A member of the Rulatharian line has sat on the tribune since its conception. Crown Races *Dwarves *Gnomes *High Elves *Humans *Kriknak Non-Crown Races *Clockwork *Goblin *Half-Elves *Half-Orcs *Orc *Targok *Truescale *Wood Elves Clockwork The clockwork are a strange race. They were originally created by the gnomes to serve as servants and soldiers. Clockworks are basic mechanical constructs with souls enchanted to them. However, the clockwork became discarded over time as newer models came out. Huge trash dumps filled up with decomissioned models. This wouldn't have been a problem, but the Gnomish inventors accidentally bonded the soul of the fireband Cleggstomper Rutledgius to a basic servant-model clockwork. Rutledgius was an outspoken critic of the clockwork practices, and wanted to see them all banned. He eventually managed to override the Gnomish failsafes enchanted into his body and he ran away to the trashdump. With the help of other, like-minded gnomes, he began bringing the reject models back to life. The clockwork now live in the labyrinthian trash heap south of Feppo's Landing. No one knows Rutledgius's true intent, but the clockwork sentries have become more aggressive as of late. Dwarves The great Dwarven kingdoms are few and far between these days, but the largest of the remaining mountainholds is the Crushing Mountain. Dworic Barent sits on the Dwarven seat in the tribune, and he works fiercely to protect Dwarven customs. The dwarves are generally a stalwart and unchanging people who are slow to convince of anything. They also happen to be, arguably, the most formidable wing of the tribune's forces. For this reason, the tribune must tolerate the "backwardness" of the dwarves. If not for the dwarves, the races beneath the crust would rise up and overwhelm the sunlovers. Goblins The goblins live in the northern forests in countless caves and tunnels that rival the size of any other kingdom. Luckily, they are extremely prone to greed and infighting. They are the most savage of all creatures except maybe the orcs, and they have never even attempted to talk to the crown races unless it was to taunt them. The Rulatharian empire has tried to stamp out the goblin menace numerous times, but it has proved to be an impossible task, mainly due to the intensely short gestation period of goblins. Gnomes Gnomes are incredibly brilliant and greedy creatures. There are usually two paths talked about in Gnomish society: the quill path and the dagger path. Most gnomes grow up and decide at one point or another to be a scholar or a pirate of some sort. Unsurprisingly, the Gnomish kingdom holds around seventy percent of all the riches on the continent. They use this money to hire mercenaries and fight innumerable proxy wars. Gnomes are rather hesitant to enter into a standup battle with anyone. The largest of the Gnomish kingdoms is in Feppo's Landing, where the Gold King sits on the jewel throne. Becoming the gold king means losing your identity entirely. This is the only way to get any sort of objectivity out of a gnome. Generally, the greatest Gnomish merchant becomes gold king and gains resources enough to accomplish basically any task. Gnomish retribution is so feared that humans have outlawed violence against gnomes in any form, and gnomes are counted as a powerful asset because of their incredible minds. Half-Elves For the most part, seeing an elf is an exceptionally rare occurence. The elf race split and then secluded themselves away from the other races. However, half-elves occasionally pop up. A half-elf is usually not fifty percent elf, as their lineage is generally watered down. Even a drop of Elven blood is noticeable however. When elf and human blood fused together, it created an entirely new creature. They are not simply the sum of their parents; they are unique. Half-elves enjoy lifespans equal to humans, but they stay young and full of vigor much longer. Because of their beauty and vivaciousness, they generally serve as prostitutes and entertainers of all sorts. They are also a highly prized possession, and they are routinely kidnapped and sold into slavery, usually the sex trade. There have been some notable half-elves in history, but they are generally a people kept down by bondage. Half-Orcs The half-orcs are a proud people who rallied under the banner of Odeon Skullcrush many years ago. They are seen as abominations by humans, yet they do not possess the savagery required to live within Orcish society. The half-orcs now wage a bitter campaign along the Swordbreaker Peninsula to the east in order to stamp out every Orc tribe that they can find. The ultimate goal of the Half-Orcs is to gain a seat on the tribune and finally be accepted as a legitimate power. Their main basecamp is the Skullcrush stronghold at the mouth of the Swordbreaker Peninsula. High Elves The elves were once a singular race that served an ancient god and watched over all the young races. They possessed the power of the Lifespeech, a language that literally created life as they spoke. After a war that almost none alive save for the elves remember, there was a break in the race and the high elves formed their own society. High elves are also referred to as Oathbreakers, because they turned their back on the ancient deity that made them protectors of all life. Calling a high elf an oatherbreaker is, however, a grave insult. Now they are known as a haughty people that keep to themselves and do not impose upon the "lesser" races. The greatest of their shining, ivory cities is Farlake Island ruled by Thustryldyne the Old. He is the oldest living elf in the world, and he guards his island ferociously. Any ships that try to make landfall on the island are immediately struck down by the radiant clerics who constantly patrol the shores. Thustryldyne keeps a seat on the tribune only to keep tabs on the "mainland savages". Humans Humans are far and away the most influential and populos of the races. They are also the most adaptive. Humans evolved all by themselves, without divine interference. The Rulatharian empire is the largest kingdom and controls about sixty-five percent of Panjeer. The Queen of Rulathar shapes the landscape at her whim and only a full blown rebellion by every other race on Panjeer could hope to destroy the empire. The Illuminated Stronghold is the second most powerful human kingdom, only because it enjoys the most divine favor. Across the entire Illuminated lands, there is no darkness. Not even a shadow. Humans have a vast disdain for darkness, and this is embodied by the priests of the Cult of Light who spend twelve hours a day checking on their enchantments and more mundane light sources so that no darkness befalls the Illuminated Lands. They are a small kingdom, but other races could not bear to travel the lands. Any who have tried to bring them to heel have been summarily destroyed by the gods themselves. The Rulatharians learned long ago to stay in good favor of the light cult. Kriknak The Kriknak are the strangest and newest addition to the tribune. They are an insectoid race that tend to strike fear into any and all who meet them. Their features make all other races uneasy, which makes them excellent traders and diplomats. They are also incredibly strong and nearly impossible to conquer, as the Rulatharians found out. They live in large hives among the western deserts. Kriknak caravans criss-cross every corner of the kingdom and without their supply routes most kingdoms would fall. Due to their important infrastructure, they were given "crown race" status. The strongest facet of Kriknak society is that they operate under a singular hive mind and governmental structure. They all serve The Queen, who no one has seen except the most trusted of Kriknak nobles. Kriknaks communicate with each other using subtle gestures and pheremones, and sometimes a Kriknak is born without these abilities. These "disconnected" Kriknak strike out on their own to do odd jobs. They have to learn the common tongue, which sounds guttural and unnatural coming from them. Some small Kriknak villages exist that consist solely of these exiles, but they have basically no power in the grand scheme of things. Orcs The Orcish tribes are scattered across Panjeer, though the majority of them have been wiped out by humans and, more recently, half-orcs. The highest concentration of the remaining tribes lies along the Swordbreaker coast, but infighting and tribal conflicts keep them from being anything more than a nuisance to any outside the immediate vicinity. They practice ancient blood magics and have the fiercest melee combatants in the world, able to rival dwarves in one on one combat. Targok The targok are a curious race. They were originally a race of vegetarian giants that roamed the countryside grazing constantly. They stand over 8' tall, and their strength is unmatched by any other race. Their race changed during a cataclysmic war as they were mutated by the magical energies that were unleashed. The targok are now just as intelligent as humans, but they are extremely aware of magics. In fact, whenever a targok is in the prescence of magic, their brain "itches" and annoys them greatly. Some targok are even driven mad by this sensation. They can, however, utilize magic if they have incredible self control. The targok are also extremely skilled farmers, and they have an almost supernatural attunement to agriculture. Without their expertise, half the world would likely starve. The Targok Collective is basically a farmer's guild that represents the giants. However, they still have not gained a seat on the tribune. Truescale The truescale are a group of humanoid lizardmen that live in the northwestern swamps known as the Froglands. They are almost identical to savage lizardmen, except for the fact that they do not have a tail. Truescales are rumored to have been created by dragons, though others think they simply evolved from the feral lizardmen. The truescale have a tribalistic society, but are fiercely independent. Tribal councils are only convened in the most dire of circumstances. Individual freedom and personal property are rather important to truescales, and they usually kill anyone they catch trespassing. Their innate attachment to material objects makes them quite good at being businessmen of any sort, but they generally keep to the swamps away from society. The other races tend to think they are monsters. Each tribe has their own symbol, which is tatooed on the face of each member on their right side. The left side of their face is usually adorned with the symbol of any tribe they are at war with. Wood Elves The wood elves, commonly called wild elves by most people, are the protectors of nature. They also hold all life sacred, as they have stayed true to the pact made with the ancient deity. After the split with their high elf kin, they retreated to the northern woods where the watch the world from afar, only intervening if nature herself is threatened. Wood elves savagely attack any who would harm nature, and they are generally avoided at all costs. The vast majority of wood elves despise the oathbreaker elves, as they call their kin. In fact, most wood elves will attack high elves on sight. This is the main reason that wood elves have been kept out of the tribune. Some more progressive wood elf tribes will speak with their brethern, but it is extremely rare for them to do so. There are several "great trees" in the northern forests that house thousands of wood elves. These trees are protected at all costs and are the source of much of the wood elves' magic.